Leisure Services Park Bonds

Thank You, Sunrise Voters!On Election Day - November 4, 2014 - more than 70% of Sunrise voters approved the City's general obligation (GO) bond referendum. Thanks to this overwhelming resident support, Sunrise has the authority to issue up to $65 million in GO bonds to fund improvements to parks and recreation facilities citywide.

Park Bond Updates

For an up-to-date listing of all City enhancement projects - including those funded by the General Obligation (GO) bond - please view our Capital Projects Database.

Presentations to the Sunrise City Commission
The documents below – presented and discussed at Sunrise City Commission meetings – provide detailed descriptions of the types of improvements planned, and the collaborative process used to define them.

Bond Referendum Q&A What is a Bond Referendum? The Florida Constitution and state statutes limit the taxing powers of governmental agencies. However, the Constitution does allow a governing body – in this case the City of Sunrise – to go directly to voters with a referendum to obtain approval for the issuance of general obligation bonds payable from new ad valorem property taxes to finance capital projects.

What are General Obligation (GO) Bonds?
GO bonds are issued to raise funds for municipal projects that won’t provide direct sources of revenue, but will benefit the entire community – such as public parks and other public leisure projects. GO bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing municipality, through the imposition of new ad valorem property taxes.

Why Does the City Need a Bond Referendum?
The Leisure Services Master Plan calls for purchasing land for new parks, and enhancing and expanding existing facilities. The City of Sunrise does not have the dollars needed to fund extensive, citywide recreation improvements. Thus, the City must issue GO bonds to finance the public park and leisure projects and a bond referendum is required to approve the issuance of such bonds.

What Will the Passage of the City’s Bond Referendum Do?
The referendum would authorize the City to issue up to $65 million in GO bonds. The City plans to initially issue $40 million to start moving forward on projects and then, at a later date, evaluate the need to issue up to $25 million in additional bonds.

How Would the GO Bonds Impact Homeowners? The average assessed value of all homes in Sunrise is just under $90,000. Using this assessed value – and assuming a Save Our Homes (Homestead) exemption – City officials estimate that the GO bonds would raise the average homeowner’s annual property tax bill by $35.03. That’s less than 10 cents per day. Homeowners who currently do not pay property tax (due to multiple exemptions, for example) would not pay any tax as a result of the GO bonds.

How Long Will it Take for the GO Bonds to Be Paid Off?
The City expects to issue GO bonds with a repayment period of up to 30 years.

How Will Residents Know How the Bond Money is Being Spent?
Now that the referendum has been approved, Sunrise residents will be kept up to date through the City’s website and other communications. Information will include a project list with descriptions; projected timelines and costs; progress tracking by project; park/field closures and other impacts; and the amount of bonds issued to date.

What is the Projected Timeline?

November 4, 2014

Election Day

November 2014

Begin scope development for project design

December 2014

Begin procurement process for design consultant

January 2015

Begin land acquisition

February 2015

Issue first installment of GO bonds

March 2015

Begin phased design and construction of projects, with parks and facilities to open as completed

March 2019

Projected completion of all projects, through phased construction schedule

Where Are the Proposed Project Sites?
View our Partners in Play map for an overview of locations citywide.